Moms Clean Carpet Stains 85 Times a Year and Fail
Treating spots and stains is challenging, full-time mom job

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- When the average mom looks down at her carpet and rugs, she sees 85 days a year of cleaning, 96 hours of failure and eight lasting reminders in the form of stubborn spots and stains, according to "Carpet Stains and Kids," new research from Woolite® Carpet and Upholstery.

According to the research:

Moms tackle carpet and rug stains on 85 days throughout the year (almost the equivalent of an entire summer)

Kids' toughest stains typically draw 12 hours of cleaning time, with the average mom able to point to eight of their children's most resilient trademarks - a total of 96 hours of unrewarded effort per home

Only 46 percent of moms manage to coax carpets clean of their kids' toughest stains

Across the country, kids and carpets make a challenging pair, with one mom adeptly stating "life happens, and then you clean." Research reveals that the top five stains made by kids are juice (64 percent), soda pop (39 percent), markers (36 percent), chocolate (35 percent) and ketchup (24 percent). With Crayola producing 465 million markers per year and research reporting that kids increasingly prefer chocolate as they grow, it's no wonder that keeping carpet and rugs clean is a never-ending chore.

It comes as little surprise, then, that U.S. moms rank cleaning carpet stains as their toughest cleaning challenge, on par with cleaning the stove or refrigerator (52 percent) - worse than getting their windows to sparkle (36 percent) or scrubbing their toilets (34 percent).

Emotional toll

Stains on carpets take an emotional toll on moms as well, with almost two-thirds (62 percent) taking the problem personally, saying that carpet stains "make them feel like their home is dirty." They reported embarrassment at inviting people over (45 percent), and also felt that carpet stains made them look like they didn't take care of their home (44 percent). For twenty-seven percent of moms, carpet stains made them feel "like bad homemakers." Though not the most prevalent, marker stains cause moms the most grief and disturb, and more than half of moms (57 percent) complain that they "hate the stain but live with it."

Fortunately for moms, the solution for these spots and stains is only a store away, with Woolite® Carpet and Upholstery products that treat and easily remove unwanted messes, and stresses!

Use the power of an oxygen-activated system to permanently remove spots and stains on carpets and rugs all the way through to the backing with Woolite Oxy Deep®. The advanced cleaner seeps into the stain and oxygen-driven power immediately lifts stains out, making carpet cleaning more thorough. Oxy Deep chemically attacks tough stains deep down to the carpet backing without scrubbing and is available at the suggested retail price of $4.99 at major retailers nationwide.

Clean high traffic areas quickly and easily with the Woolite Rug Stick® Kit with Heavy Traffic® Foam. The advanced system features a handy stick which the Heavy Traffic cleaner (included) easily pops into and injects foam deep down, lifting up matted carpet fibers and ground-in dirt to the surface for a deep down clean. The system revitalizes fibers, leaving carpet and rugs like new. The Rug Stick Kit is available at the suggested retail price of $14.99 and Heavy Traffic Foam (22 oz.) for $4.99. Both products are available at major retailers nationwide and local grocers.

*Methodological Notes

The research was conducted by Leflein Associates, Inc. between October 29 and November 2, 2009 using an online survey. A total of 501 surveys with moms of children under 13 years of age were completed. Surveys were proportionate to the population distribution by region of the US. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Woolite® Carpet and Upholstery is a trademark of Reckitt Benckiser licensed to BISSELL Homecare, Inc.

A 133-year-old company, Grand Rapids-based BISSELL Homecare, Inc., is a floor-care innovator and international manufacturer of home-cleaning products, including sweepers, vacuums, deep-cleaning machines and cleaning formulas sold at retail locations worldwide. The company, in its fourth generation of family leadership, is the leading floor care appliance brand in North America.